The E.U.'s Artificial Intelligence Act: An Ordoliberal Assessment

TL;DR

This paper critically assesses the European Union's Artificial Intelligence Act through an ordoliberal lens, highlighting its strengths, weaknesses, and proposing reforms to better address AI's socio-political impacts.

Contribution

It introduces an ordoliberal perspective to evaluate the AIA, offering novel insights and reform suggestions not previously discussed in the literature.

Findings

Identifies strengths of the AIA from an ordoliberal viewpoint

Highlights weaknesses and gaps in the current AIA framework

Proposes specific reforms to enhance the AIA's effectiveness

Abstract

In light of the rise of generative AI and recent debates about the socio-political implications of large-language models and chatbots, this article investigates the E.U.'s Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA), the world's first major attempt by a government body to address and mitigate the potentially negative impacts of AI technologies. The article critically analyzes the AIA from a distinct economic ethics perspective, i.e., ordoliberalism 2.0 - a perspective currently lacking in the academic literature. It evaluates, in particular, the AIA's ordoliberal strengths and weaknesses and proposes reform measures that could be taken to strengthen the AIA.